Callalantee, TN

1950oldsoldier

New Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2006
Location
Conway, SC
My club is planning a trip to Callalantee (TN) soon and planning to camp at Camp Callalantee. I have looked at their web page but I have been told that the pictures must have been taken when they first opened up because it has gone down hill ever since

Specifics- Only one trail marked and you would be OK if you knew the trails but up the creek if you don't. We paln to camp and I have been told that the campground looks like a unsanitary trash dump.

It would be at least a 7 hours trip for some of us and my questions to anyone that has recently, repeat, recently been there will the trip be worth the time and money to go there???

Jim:confused:
 
It has gone downhill over the last couple of years. However, still livable. I've been there monthly for the last 4 months. There is a heated bathhouse, take flipflops and your own toilet paper. Water and electric is available on the sites. $11 a nite to camp I think, $10 per rig to ride. Trails are not that hard to follow and some have been recently marked. We can point out the high spots to hit if you like. It's a decent place to ride. Not as good as Tellico or Harlan but better than Uwharrie by far! I'll be going back up the weekend of Feb 10th.

Link to good map: http://koanwood.com/images/Callalantee_map.jpg
 
Let me know when you guys are headed up, ive wanted to go for sometime, but havent been able to find people, or where the heck it is!

Other then the ORV park though, theres NOTHING to do in Mountain City...theres a Army Navy Surplus store, and a McDonalds, some weird looking high school..
 
Basically it is rough camping, with the addition of a concrete block showerhouse with toilets. As mentioned, bring flops for the shower (which would be true ne campground)...and you may want an extra tarp or two as a porch for your tent, because the ground gets pretty muddy if any rain at all, not much grass.

Not my favorite place to camp, but honestly I am there to hang with the fellow wheelers, not to hit the "arcade or minigolf" in the campground.

There is a MUCH cleaner/nicer campground 10 minutes, back in town at the Johnson County Welcome Center (Someone jump in here if I got that wrong) I drove thru once and low population of campers (several travel trailers) nice looking building I didn't go into/but assume it is a bathhouse, grassy lots, not a ton of room for parking the tow rig/trailers though.

As for the park itself...there are several updated maps that are MUCH better. You really shouldn't get lost, the trails are basically forest cut roads for logging, so they mostly all loop back to the main road in the center.

There is mild trails...some medium, and some insanely hard. Nice part is alot of the hard will have a parallel easy to medium trail, literally 15' away you can winch onto if broken, or for the smaller rigs to drive up/walk over and watch the big boys play.

If you are tired of the "other" places anyway, certainly worth a trip in my opinion. You will find a ton of pictures on here from previous trips, and obstacles and prob pretty current stuff of the campground. I will admit, my wife would NOT stay or shower in that campground, but we are a bit spoiled...personally I showered there no problem last summer.

So if the wives are coming, check out the welcome center campground (call them to double check bathhouses available)...if just you and the guys, you can enjoy the fire and hang out and not be bothered too much at Callalantee.

Last note on camping....CHICKENS start crowing about o'dark 30...seriously would remember to bring earplugs. (I just pulled my camper up there last time, plugged in and it was heavenly, all the comforts...)

Sam
 
I must have low standards for campgrounds because I had no problem with it at all. The bathhouse is concrete structure and sandles would be nice. But the campground is level, not flooded, and the fire pit seemed safe. Because my buggy isn't street legal I was *really* happy that I didn't have to drive on the road to hit the trail. I liked that there were trees by the tents compared to an open field.
 
Something that nobody mentioned is the local crowd of ATVers that unload about 9PM and race around the area then scream off into the night only to return balls to the wall about 1AM. If you can camp down in town at the welcome center you might be happier. I like the comments about the bath house. To say it is nasty is an understatement.
 
Keep in mind that if the PoPo shows up at the Welcome Center and finds so much as a thimble of cooking sherry... much less the 4 cases of A-B product or the 1/2 gal. "Black Label" you toted in, your quadruple screwed!

#1 - they'll pour it out,
#2 - They'll exchange it for a ticket, that'll...
#3 - Lighten your wallet &
#4 - Boot you into the night (immediately) where the only spot left in Callalantee at this point, is right beside the crap house!

Be sure to pack your ear plugs... good for the ATVs, better for the chickens across the way, and best for that camping neighbor snoring like a bigblock w/ open headers! :flipoff2:
 
Back
Top